Three Milwaukee men convicted of a robbery attempt that killed the owner of a custom orange Oldsmobile were sentenced to lengthy prison terms Friday.

Vincent Cort, 25, was shot as he sat behind the wheel of his car outside a busy liquor store the evening of June 12 in 2010, but his case went unsolved for 20 months before a man arrested for cocaine possession in February 2012 gave police the case on a platter to avoid his own charges and collect a $10,000 reward.

Paris Saffold, 24, told detectives, and later a jury, that he overheard George Taylor, 20, Steven Hopgood, 27, and Laquan Riley, 21, talking in an apartment building courtyard when they noticed Cort pull into Jack's Liquor across the street, at N. 50th St. and W. Hampton Ave., driving his distinctive orange Delta 88 with 24-inch chrome wheels.

The trio quickly decided to steal the car.

Saffold said Riley, wearing a hoodie from Taylor and with a gun supplied by Hopgood, crossed the street. When Cort didn't immediately give up the car, he was shot once. He tried to speed away before he collapsed a short distance away. He was driven by a relative to a hospital, where he died.

"Thank God he had enough strength to drive off and you never got my brother's car," Theresa Cort told Hopgood during a victim impact statement in court Friday.

Riley, convicted of second-degree reckless homicide, attempted armed robbery and possessing a gun as a felon, was sentenced to 30 years in prison - 20 for the homicide and five each on the other counts, all consecutive - followed by 12 years of supervised release.

Taylor and Hopgood, both convicted of felony murder, were each sentenced to 17 years in prison, plus seven years of extended supervision. The jury acquitted Hopgood of being a felon in possession of a gun.

At sentencing, Milwaukee County Circuit Judge David Borowski noted Hopgood's extensive prior record, lack of any remorse and the fact he's had virtually no employment in his life, but fathered three children. He asked Hopgood, "You're a criminal, right?"

Hopgood replied, "If you say so."

Many of Vincent Cort's family members and friends wore orange to the hearing, or T-shirts that showed him standing in front of the Delta 88 he customized and drove with pride.

The car has been in evidence since the crime, but Donald Cort said he hopes to get it back and repaired and ready for car shows by summer to honor his son's memory.

Borowski ordered that all three defendants be liable for more than $20,000 in restitution to Cort's family and the state crime victim compensation fund. The money will be collected over time by taking 25% from each man's prison account balances.

The total includes the $10,000 reward Cort's family offered soon after his slaying. Donald Cort said Friday that Saffold was paid by cashier's check in January.